Just have to say ...

... that Tila Tequila is a WHOLE punnet of strawberries short of a fruit salad.

Could that girl get any more whacked out? I'd like to say she's harmless, but at the same time, I don't think I can. She seems to like animals though, which is a good thing, but again, I kinda want to save her dog from her. I love dogs. And hers is such a cute dog. I just hope that amidst her crazy life and fame-whoring she actually gives that dog all the love and affection he needs.

This post from The Superficial just about made me wet my pants. "Just let me mourn in peace. In this tree. With my tits out". Hilarious ... and Tila, seriously!

Anyhow, she's definitely something short of something, and I think now is my cue to go to sleep, or perhaps go watch one episode of Gossip Girl ...

I have an addiction ... to Gossip ...

... Gossip Girl, that is.

I got into Gossip Girl when it first aired in the states, however I got half way through watching season 2 when it aired and then I missed the rest.

So part of my Christmas presents for 2009 was Gossip Girl seasons 1 and 2.


I am totally in love with it. I have a girl crush on Serena (could that girl and her clothes get any hotter?), Blair is the ultimate bitch and Chuck, well I love a bad boy. Nate is becoming more appealing too (but that could be because I recently discovered this weird thing for his look alike Zac Efron - which after this post, we will never mention again!). Still, Chuck is my number one. He's so slimy and disgusting, it's sexy.

Anyhow, I am only half way through season 2, and I don't know what happens nor do I know what happens in season 3 ... so please don't pull a Blair and spoil it!

Ta.

Canned chicken ... spew-tastic or yum?

Ok, so there's this new "phenomenon" in Australia and it's known as Heinz Canned Chicken.

Alright, it's hardly a phenomenon - I'd actually go as far to say it's more of an eek-omenon. A lot of people I have chatted to about canned chicken have all been quite revolted by the idea.

While I too was initially revolted by the idea of chicken in a can, the other day I found myself pondering about what it actually tasted like and whether or not it's actually any good. Apparently it's been a part of everyday USA life for some time now, and I am a fan of canned salmon and tuna and eat these regularly. I also really like canned sardines and I also have a thing for canned smoked oysters. I thought to myself, if I could love canned seafood so much (and when you think about the concept of canned seafood, it sounds far worse than the concept of canned chicken!), then surely I can bring myself to try the canned chicken.

So a couple of nights ago I found myself standing in Coles (I would have preferred to be in Woolworths, but you know, it meant more driving - Coles was closer), staring at a wall of Heinz Canned Chicken.

It comes in heaps of flavours; smoked chicken, mayo, tomato & onion, red curry, mustard mayo ... and more I can't remember, but like the tuna before it, it's there waiting, ready for you to eat it.

And so I bought a can. I ended up with tomato & onion - I did actually mean to buy just the plain smoked chicken, however I picked the tomato & onion up by mistake. Anyhow, I still opened it up and I tasted it. And I have to admit, it tasted good. I couldn't fault it. It was pretty much the same as canned tuna, except of course the texture was different (the chicken comes shredded by the way), and it didn't have the much hated fishy smell. The side of the can makes for some amusing reading (apparently there may be traces of fish in the product - mmm, maybe that's why it reminded me of tuna so much?); but once you get past that the actual taste is decent and it makes for a good snack.


Will I buy it again? Most likely - just like tuna it is a good pantry filler. However I have to try the plain "flavour" before I go out and buy too much ... it could be possible that the tomato & onion masked the real taste, so I must get myself the "original" chicken. When I try that I will post and update you all.

Until then, happy chickening!

More books ... they keep on breeding!

More books! Like I don't have enough to read already!

I have recently added to my list Marley & Me by John Grogan and LA Candy by Lauren Conrad.


Marley & Me has been on my list of books to buy for a while now, and I managed to score a copy on ebay for $6 including postage! My new year miracle! Don't know how I got it for that price considering the other auctions were going for nearly the recommended retail price. Yes, it's second hand, but I don't sniff at second hand books - there's something about a dog-eared book that makes it even more appealing. I believe books are soulful as it is, but a second hand book not only has soul about it, it has history!


LA Candy has come to me from the lovely Melissa (thanks Mel! I got rather excited with it arrived in the mail!)... she has kindly lent it to me to read while we await the new Lauren Conrad book. I'll admit it now, I LOVE The Hills. Yes I know. I don't know why I love it, but it's that kind of trashy TV that just sucks me right on in. To be honest, I don't even know what I love about it - it's hardly ground breaking and it's just about a bunch of girls bitch fighting and dating guys that aren't good for them at all, and it's shallow, but it makes for happy couch lazing. I like to do that ... couch lazing with good (or trashy, depending on how you see it) TV, chocolate, raspberries and cheese is awesome. Anyhow, Melissa assures me LA Candy is a good read - I believe it will be ridiculous and everything that The Hills is, and I know, just like her, I am going to read it cover to cover. And I am going to love it. And then I am going to go and buy her new book ... and contribute to her probably already overflowing bank account that she has from pretty much doing nothing but bitching about people on TV.

Better get reading! Funny that I am going to probably read the 2 newest books in my collection before anything else gets read ... always the way!

Macarons ... how I love thee.

As I have mentioned, I love to cook ... and by that I mean I love to bake.


For some reason I have this uncanny ability to cook with egg white. My mother and her sister are naturally fantastic cooks (and two people that keep me forever wanting to improve - hopefully my cooking skills will get to their level one day), however for some reason neither of them can work with egg white.

Both try and fail working with egg white, most notably pavlova. Yes, they can make them, but I have this bizarre ability to turn a pavlova into the most marshmallowey thing you have ever tasted. I don't know how I do it, but I do. Egg whites and me are like this: X.

And for some reason my bizarre ability to work with egg white crosses over to the world of macarons. I have only made them 3 times in my life from Nigella Lawson's Domestic Goddess recipes and they always work and always taste spot on and have the right texture. Ok, I admit, I have only had frilly feet two out of the three times, but the time I didn't get frilly feet was when I made the chocolate macarons photographed, just after New Year's day and the weather was unbearably humid and hot (it was also my first time working with chocolate macarons). Frilly feet aside, I find it odd that I can make macarons without much hassle when chefs and cooks all over the world preach that they're the hardest biscuit to make.

To be honest, I think they're all just making a sponge cake out of a little egg white ... I think failures with egg white come from being afraid of failure. I also think lots of cooks and chefs treat egg white with too much care. I just stick my egg white in my Sunbeam Mix Master and beat it. Yes, I do that to my macarons. And while there are probably cooks and chefs out there would probably faint and die upon hearing this, to them I say "meh".

They taste good and that's all that matters! However, my piping abilities leave much to be desired and I am hoping that the below contraption from Chalet (oh, how I love Chalet) will help rectify my poor piping skills (it definitely saves on batter wastage ... I make the biggest mess with piping bags!). I am dying to make perfectly round macarons!

Behold, at the wonder that is my Chalet "I Did it Myself" Decoration Set:

Those things called resolutions ...

So slack ...


Ok, so here I am, blogging the last 14 days ... or really what was the most eventful of my 14 days - which to be honest probably isn't that much!

I am going to go day by day and do multiple entries, as I prefer to read tidbits over large, massive posts ... I like to skim ... I also like to look at photos! So here goes!

Well, since my last "real" post New Year's has come and gone (New Year's eve was not eventful at all, unfortunately!), and yes, I have made some New Year's resolutions. This year I have chosen things that I want to stick to, because they will have a good outcome!

1. Must save money. By that I mean I can't buy shoes, clothes or make-up willy-nilly like I have been. Yeah, I know. Heart breaking.
2. Must book holiday to Canada and the USA. Vancouver, New York, Houston, Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA and (hopefully) a trip back to Hawai'i is on the agenda and hence why resolution number 1 has been made. A shopping ban is made much easier when you promise yourself the reward of shopping in the USA (I get dizzy thinking about it!).
3. Get fit/eat more healthy (and don't eat unhealthy food at work). I dont' think I need to elaborate - it's the same resolution 40 million other people have made this year and every year before that! But I must stop eating the food I have been during working hours. Not good.
   
4. Read more books! I admit, that since my first post I actually haven't read ... haven't had time!
5. Cook more from my cooking books and magazines. I LOVE to cook (I am a keen baker), and I also LOVE cooking books and magazines. I pour over the pages, the photos, the ingredients, yet I hardly ever cook from my collection. Must cook more, and be more adventurous (well, it's not me that isn't adventurous with food - my husband, D, well he's a bit of a picky bugger - little does he know that's all going to change!).
6. Go to a raging New Year's Eve party. Because all other New Year's Eve's over the past decade were rather dull. Must change that!
   

So yes, there are some resolutions for the year ... and hopefully I can stick to them (I have a feeling that number 6 may just be the hardest to do!). I have already promised D that the pair of sandals I bought from Sportsgirl last Sunday was the last pair of shoes I will buy until we go on our holiday in September.

I regretted saying that the second it left my mouth. No shoes for 9 months? I am going to die!

New Year's catch ups ...

Ok, so I have been slack.

It's been 13 days since my last blog entry ... so I am about to update you all with about a million and one entries ... I have things to post (including my adventures with canned-chicken as requested), I just haven't posted them!

So, stay tuned ... in the meantime here's a photo that I took the other day of my bat-shit-crazy kitten, Gizmo. Think he's a tad hungry? Bless.